In Unlocked, Lee Na Mi is an ordinary young woman, going about her life as usual, when one night she loses her phone on the bus. Na Mi doesn’t notice the phone is missing until the next morning, by which time it has already been picked up by someone else.
After calling her own number, to see if someone has picked up the device, she is greeted by a friendly voice who tells her not to worry, the phone is safe and can be retrieved within the next hour. However, a short while later, Na Mi receives a follow up call from the mysterious person, informing her the phone has been accidentally damaged, and dropped off at a repair centre.
Na Mi arrives at the repair centre and after handing over a few details, the phone is repaired and returned to her. But what she doesn’t know is, the phone has been hacked and now someone has access to all her information.
Whatever she searches online, can be tracked, and wherever Na Mi goes, her mysterious stalker can follow along too. He can also cause a great deal of damage to her life, all from the comfort of his own home, and all from the touch of a few buttons.
Directed by Kim Tae-joon, Unlocked is a South Korean thriller starring Chun Woo-hee , Park Ho-San, and Yim Si-wan. The movie is new to Netflix from today, and is a decent little techno thriller which looks at stalking in the modern age.
The film sets up the idea that anyone can become a victim of digital surveillance, it is merely a case of momentarily dropping your guard. And then once someone gets inside your phone, they can get inside your life, and use your information however they see fit.
There is a little more to the film than just a bit of online stalking, as Unlocked also includes a police investigation, which plays in the background of the film. The two plot threads are of course connected, demonstrating just how deep and frightening this type of situation can be.
Director Kim Tae-joon has good grip on the material in this picture, and taps into the reality of the world we are currently living in. We have all become too reliant on technology, with most of us guilty of handing over a bit too much information online, and his film demonstrates the worrying side of all this.
He then backs this all up with a great cast, some strong shots, a fairly even tone, and a good soundtrack. Unlocked isn’t amazing, but it is pretty solid, and finds way to inject some thrills, a touch of paranoia, and plenty of drama into the story.
Unlocked may not rock everyone’s world, but it makes for a fine watch. There are some interesting ideas in here about hacking, spyware, and cyber-stalking, and it offers just enough story to make it all work.
You probably won’t come away thinking this is the best thriller you have ever seen, but you may have second thoughts about uploading so much information online. You may also consider super-gluing your phone to your hand, to deter anyone from trying to access it.
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